Duration of combination therapy and risk of treatment failure in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Patients who receive infliximab (IFX) combined with a thiopurine, for inflammatory bowel disease, have a better clinical response and less frequent immunization towards IFX than those treated with IFX alone. The benefits of combination therapy must be weighed against the risks of infection and cancer. We studied the association between the duration of combination therapy and the risk of treatment failure by two year from initiation. METHODS: Participants had Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and were in clinical and biological remission, 6 months after initiation of combination therapy. The risk of subsequent treatment failure (i.e., undetectable trough IFX levels and/or clinical relapse followed by surgical treatment or switch of maintenance treatment) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and adjusted Hazard Ratios (aHRs), in patients whohadreceived 6 to 11 months vs. 12 months or more of combination therapy. We performed a similar analysis in which the follow-up was started at discontinuation of the immunosuppressant. RESULTS: Among 139 patients (48% women; median age 31.1), with a median follow-up of 18.9 months, we observed 26 treatment failures (including 15 patients with undetectable trough IFX levels). After adjustment for gender and type of immunomodulator, a shorter duration of combination therapy was not associated with a higher risk of treatment failure (aHR=0.42; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.13-1.40; p=0.16). When the follow-up was started at discontinuation of the immunosuppressant, a combination therapy of 6-11 months was associated with a numerically lower risk of treatment failure as compared with a longer combination therapy (HR=0.12; 95%CI: 0.01-1.05; p=0.055). CONCLUSION: Our results do not show any benefit for continuation of combination therapy for more than 12 months after achieving clinical remission in IBD patients.

Real-world evidence of tofacitinib effectiveness and safety in patients with refractory ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: Phase III trials demonstrated effectiveness of tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, to induce and maintain remission in patients with moderate-to-severe active ulcerative colitis (UC). AIMS: We report the real-world effectiveness and safety of tofacitinib in patients with UC in France. METHODS: From February 2017 to December 2018, we performed a national French cohort study, which included all consecutive patients with an active UC refractory to anti-TNF and vedolizumab, who received tofacitinib. Outcomes were survival without colectomy, survival without tofacitinib discontinuation and steroid-free clinical remission at weeks 14, 24 and 48. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients were included, with a median follow-up of 41.5 (18.5-56.8) weeks. Survival without colectomy was 77% [95% confidence interval (95%CI): 59.3-87.9] at week 24 and 70% (95%CI: 50.9-82.8) at week 48. Survival without treatment discontinuation was 70% (95%CI: 52.6-82.3) at week 24. Steroid-free clinical remission was observed in 13 (34%) patients at week 48. Adverse events occurred in 14 (37%) patients, including 6 severe adverse events and three herpes zoster infections. CONCLUSION: In a highly refractory UC population, one third of patients treated with tofacitinib achieved steroid-free clinical remission at week 14 and 70% of patients avoided colectomy at one year, with an acceptable safety profile. These data confirm tofacitinib effectiveness in UC, especially after multiple biologic failures.

Evolution and recurrence of gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies, are effective against several malignancies. They are associated with gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events (GI-IrAEs), which may be severe and lead to ICI discontinuation. We assessed the risk of evolution of GI-IrAEs to chronic GI inflammation and the risk of recurrence after a second line of ICI. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a single-centre study. Included patients had a GI-IrAE due to ICIs between September 2010 and July 2017. We assessed the persistence of symptoms, endoscopic and/or histological inflammation, and the risk of recurrent GI-IrAEs after the second line of ICIs. RESULTS: Eighty patients were included. The median follow-up was 8.4 months (0.36-72.3). The median duration of GI symptoms was 1.5 months (5 days-10.3 months): 1.4 months (7 days-4.9 months) with anti-CTLA-4, 2.0 months (5 days-10.3 months) with anti-PD-1 and 1.0 month (8 days-3.4 months) with combination therapy (log-rank test: p = 0.02). Three and 6 months after the beginning of GI-IrAEs, 22% (95% confidence interval: 14%-33%) and 5.4% (2.0%-14.7%) of patients had persistent symptoms, respectively. After a median of 6 months, 20/27 patients had endoscopic and/or histological inflammation, of whom, seven were symptom free. After the first episode, 6/26 patients relapsed after receiving another course of ICIs. Among these 26, 89% (77%-100%) had no recurrence after 3 months, 71% or 95% if the second line was anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1, respectively. CONCLUSION: GI-IrAEs seem to be acute or subacute, not chronic. Reintroduction of ICIs is possible in patients who had GI-IrAE.

Efficacy and safety of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for chronic pancreatitis.

INTRODUCTION: There is still uncertainty regarding the efficacy and optimal modalities of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis. The aims of the present study were to assess the safety and the efficacy of ESWL, either alone or followed by therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (adjuvant ERCP) and to determine predictive factors of efficacy, in a real-life setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included all consecutive patients who underwent an ESWL in a single University Hospital between 2001 and 2012. The indication for ESWL was obstructive stone(s) of the main pancreatic duct resulting in either painful chronic pancreatitis or recurrent acute pancreatitis. Success was defined by resolution of pain, no analgesic treatment, no acute pancreatitis and no surgical treatment for chronic pancreatitis 6 months after the ESWL. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-six patients were studied; 6/146 (4%) had a complication of ESWL. Among the 132 patients in whom follow-up was completed, 91 (69%) had an adjuvant ERCP. After 6 months of follow-up, 100/132 (76%) patients achieved success. In multivariate analysis, the single significant predictive factor of the success of the ESWL treatment was chronic pain (p = 0.03). Patients who had chronic pain and needed opioid treatment had less chance of success than patients without chronic pain (OR 95%CI 0.31 [0.07-1.14]). We found no difference in the success rates between patients who underwent adjuvant ERCP and those who had ESWL only (p = 0.93). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the ESWL is a safe and effective treatment for patients with chronic pancreatitis and obstructive stones within the main pancreatic duct. Systematic association with therapeutic ERCP appears to provide no additional benefit and is therefore not recommended.

[Neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors and helpfulness of targeted therapies]. / Tumeurs neuroendocrines pancréatiques bien différenciées : l'apport des thérapies ciblées.

The neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors are rare tumors, but their incidence is constantly rising. Even if the management of these tumors has to be surgical as soon as possible, the disease is most often metastatic at the stage of the diagnostic. The prognostic and the therapeutic options differ from pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Available treatments have evolved over the last years with recent publications of studies that bring to light the benefits of targeted therapies in this pathology. This has resulted in modifications of both practices and either French and international guidelines. Therefore, we focus on the management of the grade 1 and grade 2 well-differentiated neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors as classified in new WHO classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms published in 2010.